Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Trading Up 15.8% Following Dividend Announcement

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) shares were up 15.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $5.31 and last traded at $4.62. Approximately 33,734,302 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 47% from the average daily volume of 22,914,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.99.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -63.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Colliers Securities cut Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $4.25 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.48.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -5.04, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,046,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,840,168,000 after buying an additional 496,833 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,158,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $774,593,000 after buying an additional 3,800,294 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,479,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,423,000 after buying an additional 1,049,687 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,058,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,476,000 after buying an additional 448,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,923,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $99,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,675 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023.